As we enter a new era of politics, we hope to see that Obama has the courage to fight the policies that Progressives hate. Will he have the fortitude to turn the economic future of America to help the working man? Or will he turn out to be just a pawn of big money, as he seems to be right now.

Sunday, January 30, 2005

Despite a continuing increase in the already draconian security measuresimposed across Iraq, the bombs keep coming.

Today in the al-Dora district of Baghdad a primary school which had beena designated polling station was struck by a car bomb. Four Iraqi Police(IP) were killed.

A GMC packed with explosives rammed a checkpoint at the al-Dora powerplant, killing several people, and as far south as Basra a policemandied when his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb.

With Baquba experiencing its daily car bombing, at least 18 Iraqis havebeen killed in attacks on polling stations in the last 24 hours alone.

While IP’s have been given pay raises for this weekend, they remainextremely tense and edgy, and not without due cause.

We are driving around Baghdad today attempting to take photos andconduct interviews, and the streets are nearly completely empty

An oddity in Baghdad, where traffic jams often find people waiting forhours in places to creep their way through clogged streets. Over 90streets in the capital city are barricaded,further increasing the horrendous congestion on “normal” days.

I take a photo as we drive past an IP praying behind a barricadewhich blocks an empty street. Almost immediately afterwards we hearyelling and I look back to see an IP aim his Kalshinkov over our car andhear the pop as he squeezes off a shot.

“They weren’t even guarding anything. What was that all about,” I askAbu Talat who takes us down some side roads in case they decided tofollow us.

“They are in terror of what is to come,” replies Abu Talat, “So many ofus are afraid of what is to come now.”

We drive past the recently bombed SCIRI headquartersacross the street from Baghdad University, then our circuitous routetakes us past an area where men are lining the streets handing outbundles of posters and other election propaganda for the RoyalConstitution Party, in hopes of luring some votes.

I’m on a mission to photograph the barricades that are springing upacross the capital city, and one of Abu Talat’s sons, Ahmed, is alongwith us doing some filming as well. Just after filming more of theabundance of concrete blocks and razor wire we are pulled over by anunmarked car of three IP’s.

They take Abu Talat and Ahmed’s ID’s, the registration papers for thecar and tell us to follow them.

I’d been detained by mujahideen in Fallujah last May while conductinginterviews inside the city, and Abu Talat and I were piled into a GMCwith armed Iraqi National Guard (in Fallujah they were all muj), andtaken in for questioning.

So this didn’t feel like a kidnapping, since we had our car sanspersonal armed escorts. Nevertheless, it’s safe to say I was a bitconcerned.

“Should I escape? I could try to get a taxi,” I say to Abu Talat. “No.We’re fine. They will just verify we are press. Besides, you areAmerican. You are the only thing keeping them from throwing me in jail.”

From the back seat Ahmed says, “Me too!”

They pull over at a marked police vehicle and everything is sorted out.“I apologize, we just have to make sure you are press,” says one of thepolicemen.

Before leaving them Abu Talat felt like having some fun and asked thepoliceman, “Why didn’t you take the American’s papers?”

“The Americans will fuck my mother if I do,” he replied. They both burstinto laughter.

Later in another area of the city we are on a sidewalk and see a largecargo truck with a tattered Iraqi flag on one of the antennae. A crowdof weary travelers are milling around the back of it holding largetravel bags.

“They have just returned from their haj,” comments Abu Talat as he looksat the weary travelers from Mecca. “Welcome to Iraq,” he says whilelaughing.

From the backseat Ahmed says, “Welcome to hell.”

We’d already pushed our luck, so after talking to a few folks we grablunch and head back towards home. “Let’s play a game and see how manyphotos we can take before we get pulled over or shot at again,” I joketo them both.

Ahmed, 15 years old, tells me one of his friends was shot in the back byan Iraqi soldier because he drove by an unmarked checkpoint. “He’s inthe hospital now, but he’s in too much pain to talk to me,” he says.

These stories are everyday.

Going through the IP checkpoint at the hotel, one of the guards says, “Idon’t think much will happen this weekend. I think it’s just a bunch oflies. Nothing will happen.”

After watching his colleague speak, the other guard who is looking underour hood replies, “We’re closing this checkpoint at 5pm today, so nomore cars in or out of here. The coming days will be the worst we’veever seen. Attacks will spread across all of Baghdad.”

Like the election and the aftermath, nobody knows for sure what willhappen here. Baghdad is on pins and needles. Gunfire cracks in thedistance as I finish this. Two distant explosions (the car bombs)rattled the hotel earlier this evening.

The curfews have been extended and all the security measures are now inplace.

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About Me

I enjoy photography and cats, and the people who enjoy photography and cats. Politics has become a second or third interest now that Tom Delay is going to jail and the GopPigS have lost the Congress. Even with the other big-business party, the Democrats, shape-shifting and pretending to stop the war, politics is a swamp that one should avoid.

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